William mason



' (No Model.) W. MASON.

BREEGH LOADING FIRE ARM. No. 247,377. Patented Sept. 20,1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. A

- WILLIAM MASON, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE COLTS PATENTFIRE-ARMS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BREECH-LOADING l-IRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,377, datedSeptember 20, 1881.

Application filed Mayfil, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WM. MASON, of Hartford, in the county of Hartfordand State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inBreech-Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters ofreference marked thereon,

' to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which saiddrawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a sectional side view, showing the parts in their normalcondition; Fig. 2, the same with the barrel tilted.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of arms in whichthe barrel or barrels are hung forward and so that the breech end tipsup to open the cartridge-chamber, and known as barrel tilting up at thebreech, and with special reference to what are known as concealedhammersthat is to say, the hammer arranged within the receiver of thearm and cooked in the act of tilting the barrels.

The invention consists in a rock-shaft arranged beneath the barrelstransversely thereto, and substantially the axis upon which the barrelsturn, and in connection with the barrel, so that as the barrels aretilted the rockshaft will turn upon its axis, combined with a lever hungto said rock-shaft, extending rearward so as to engage the hammer belowits pivot, and a V-shaped mainspring, the doubled end of 'which ishinged to said lever, the open ends of the said spring extending forwardto engage with the hammer, as more fully hereinafter described.

A represents the frame of the receiver, extending forward beneath thebarrels B, as at C, the forward end rounded to receive the forearm D, insubstantially the usual manner. In a recess in the receiver the hammer Eis hung upon a pivot, a, the upper end or nose arranged to strikethrough an opening, b, in the breech end of the receiver, or may be upona firingpin.

F is a transverse rock-shaft arranged at the forward end of thereceiver, beneath the barrel, and forming substantially the axis onwhich the barrels turn in tilting. On the said rockshaft a cam-likeprojection, f, is formed upon the upper side, and a similarcam-projection,

h, below, and on the under side of the barrel a projecting lug, l, isformed, to hook over the rock-shaft, its front surface engaging the camsf h, as shown, so that when the barrels are tilted the surface of thelug above the pivot bears against the cam f and turns the rock-shaftforward. Then, in returning the barrels, the surface of the lug on theOther side hears upon the cam h and turns the rock-shat'tin the oppositedirection.

H is a lever, hung to the rock-shaft above its axis, as at m, and,extending rearward, is provided with a latch shaped nose, n, to engage acorresponding notch, r, on the hammer, below its pivot, and so thatasthe shaft is rotated in tilting the barrels the lever will be drawnforward from the position at Fig. 1 to that in Fig. 2 and turn thehammer to fullcock and cause it to engage with the sear L. Then, whenthe barrels are returned, the lever H also returns away from itsengagement with the hammer.

The mainspring is of the usual V shape, its double end attached to thelever H, as at s, and should be in a position in line with the pivot m,or slightly above it. The end tot one arm of the spring rests freeagainst the receiver. The other arm, u, bears upon the hammer throughthe interposition of a strut,

w. In the movement of the rock-shaft in cock ing the-hammer, as beforedescribed, the mainspring is drawn forward, so that the position of thestrut is changed from the vertical position,which it occupies when thebarrels are closed, as seen in Fig. 1, to a forward-inclined position,as seen in Fig. 2. Then when therockshaft returns, as in closing thebarrel, the

spring is correspondingly carried to the rear, 0

which forces the strut to into a vertical position, or nearly so, asseen in broken lines, Fig. 2. In this movement of the strut the lowerarm of the spring is raised or compressed toward the other arm, whichcompletes the ap- 5 plication of the power of the spring, the movementin cocking only partially compressing the spring. Thusthefull power ofthe spring is applied by the combined opening and closing movement ofthe barrels. The mainsprin g, being attached, as described, to thelever, tends to hold that lever up to its engagement with the hammer, sothat the mainsprin g serves the double purpose of a spring for thehammer and a spring for the lever; but the mainspring may be applied tothe hammer independent of the lever and the lever held in its place byasprin g beneath it; or the lever may be used without a spring by thearrangement of a support, over which it will ride-as, for instance, asin dicated in broken lines at m, Fig. 2.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, while speciallyvintended for double barreled arms, this invention may be applied tosingle-barrel arms.

In another application for patent, which I have entitled Case A, I haveshown the rockshaft arranged in the same manner as in this application,but with a different intermediate mechanism. I therefore do not in thisapplication make broad claim to the transverse rockshaft rotated by theopening and closing movements of the barrel to cock the hammer.

I do not wish to be understood as broadly claiming a link or lever whichoperates upon the hammer to set it at full-cock as the barrels aretilted, as such, I am aware, is not new; but

What I do claim is- 1. In fire-arms in which the breech is opened by thebarrel tilting up at the breech, the com- 2. In fire-arms in which thebreech is opened V by the barrel tilting up at the breech, thecombination therewith of a transverse rock-shaft arranged substantiallyat the axis upon which the barrel turns, an extension from thebarrelsinto connection with said rock-shaft, so that as the barrels are tiltedsaid shaft will be turned, a hammer hung at the rear, with a lever hungto said rock-shaft above its pivot and extending rearward intoengagement with the hammer belowv its pivot, whereby the rotation ofsaid rock-shaft in the act of tilting the barrels turns the rock-shaftand cocks the hammer, and a V-shaped mainspring hung by its doubled endto said lever, its open endarranged to bear upon the hammer,substantially as described.

' WILLIAM MASON. Witnesses:

E. F. BODWELL, 'SAM WALKER.

